Jos Plateau

Jos Plateau (jôs) [key], region, c.3,000 sq mi (7,770 sq km), alt. c.4,200 ft (1,280 m), central Nigeria, W Africa. The plateau, composed mainly of granite, slopes gently to the north and is covered by grasslands; the Gongola River rises there. The region has one of the higher population densities in Nigeria and is freer from disease than the surrounding lowlands. Tin is mined and processed on the plateau, and farming and grazing are important. The town of Jos is the region's chief center. In the 19th cent. the plateau was a refuge for non-Islamic people fleeing from the Islamic Fulani people.